Marquette King
 King in 2015 | |||||||||||
| No. 7 Oakland Raiders | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Punter | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Date of birth: | October 26, 1988 | ||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Macon, Georgia | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 192 lb (87 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Macon (GA) Rutland | ||||||||||
| College: | Fort Valley State | ||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2012 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 12, 2016 | |||||||||||
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Marquette King Jr.[1] (born October 26, 1988) is an American football punter for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Fort Valley State.[2] King is the only current African American punter in the NFL and has been since the beginning of his career.
College career
King attended Fort Valley State University where he was originally recruited as a wide receiver. However, he could not find playing time at the position. During his junior year, when his new head coach learned that King practiced punting in his spare time, he threatened to revoke King's scholarship unless he became a full-time punter.[3] In his senior year, King was an All-First Team Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member and the 2011 FVSU Wildcats Most Valuable Player. During the 2011 season King punted 80 yards against Bethune-Cookman University. During the 2011 season, King led the Conference in punting with a 43 yards per punt average, with 21 punts landing inside his opponents' 20-yard-line. Sixteen of his punts were for 50 yards or more.
Professional career
After the 2012 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders signed King to a three-year deal to compete with and eventually replace veteran Shane Lechler. In training camp, King took most of the punting snaps due to an earlier injury to Lechler. King impressed the coaches enough to be kept on the roster but was placed on injured reserve for the entire 2012 NFL season.
With Lechler signing a free-agent contract with the Houston Texans, King competed for the Oakland Raiders punting job during the 2013 preseason with experienced veteran Chris Kluwe. The regular season job was left to King after the Raiders cut Kluwe at the conclusion of the preseason.
On February 29, 2016, King signed a five-year, $16.5 million contract extension with the Raiders.[4] On September 23, 2016, King was fined $18,231 for a touchdown saving horse collar tackle on Eric Weems during a Week 2 game against the Falcons.[5]
References
- ↑ Sperber, Jeff (April 19, 2012). "NFL Prospect Marquette King Interview: A New Breed of Punter". www.footballnation.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- ↑ "Oakland Raiders: Marquette King". Oakland Raiders. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ↑ Wallace, Carvell (5 February 2016). "Marquette King Is the N.F.L.'s Only Black Punter. How Come?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- ↑ Hanzus, Dan (February 29, 2016). "Marquette King inks long-term extension with Raiders". NFL.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
- ↑ Reed, Jesse. "Raiders P Marquette King fined over $18K for horse collar tackle". Sportsnaut. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
